Plight of scam victims gets national press attention

The plight of a Norfolk scam victim has reached the national press following the launch of Friends Against Scams in Norfolk.

The case of David has been highlighted by Norfolk Trading Standards and the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board at the local launch of Friends Against Scams in an attempt to stop others falling victim.

The victim's daughter-in-law contacted Trading Standards after discovering 'David' had paid £300,000 over five years to con artists in the belief he had won £1.5m in a lottery.

"I believe it all started when my father-in-law received a letter stating he had been allocated a share of a lottery win - all he had to do was send a sum of money to cover the administration costs and then he would receive £1.5m.

"However, five years and hundreds of thousands of pounds later, he is still sending money with no sign of his £1.5m.

"He will not listen to anyone apart from the scammers and he is adamant he will get this money. It has become an obsession facilitated by the world that the scammers have lured him into, fuelled by the constant contacts and repeated promises of money which now drives David's cussedness about the whole situation."

I
am astonished to learn how few people report the scam - it is therefore so
important to talk about this, to debunk any taboos associated with being
scammed and to bring this huge criminal problem out into the open!